"In Wellesley and Weston, we did see a statistically significant elevation in the prevalence of children with Type 1 diabetes," said Associate Commissioner Suzanne Condon.

For the past two-and-a-half years, the department had been investigating possible clusters of the disease in Wellesley, Weston and Newton, after being contacted by Weston resident Ann Marie Kreft, whose 12-year-old son, Gus, has Type 1 diabetes.

The elevated number of cases was found in neighborhoods in Wellesley and Weston.

Wellesley resident Walker Allen, 5, son of Celtic's star Ray Allen and his wife Shannon, has the disease as well.

The families, along with dozens of others who have children with Type 1, all live within miles of one another.

Kreft had contacted MDPH in February 2008 about her cluster concerns, launching an investigation.

The surveillance data was collected on children in grades K-8 by school nurses and health care providers.

Type 1 diabetes is incurable. Those diagnosed with the disease face needles and blood counts many times a day to keep their blood sugar in check.

Typically, Type 1 strikes males and females equally, but in these particular neighborhoods, girls make up 58 percent of diagnosed cases and boys, 40 percent.

But, perhaps the most striking data, said Condon, is the number of children who had a relative with the disease.

"In Weston and Wellesley, we noted that between 37 and 39 percent of them had a family history of Type 1 diabetes versus the national prevalence data which suggests about 5 to 10 percent."

A significant correlation with family history was also found in Newton.

The finding caused investigators to look at possible environmental factors that might be triggering the autoimmune disease.

Condon said there's nothing obvious that jumps out, but the higher rate of family history gives her pause and the department will continue its research.

Condon said they do know it is not the drinking water, but phase two of the investigation will focus on environmental sites to see if there is any ground contamination from perhaps gasoline storage, or pesticide application, or even examining whether renovated basements are connected in some way.